First Official Date
by bisexual-annabeth
Summary: Leo is taking Calypso on their first official date since getting back from Ogygia. Unfortunately, things tend to go up in flames when he gets nervous. Literally. Caleo one-shot.


**(A/N: Caleo normally isn't my thing, but I couldn't resist. Happy Valentine's Day! Or Single's Awareness Day, depending on who you ask. Don't forget to review if you like it!)**

Fire powers were great for fighting monsters. They were not so great for going on dates with your girlfriend. Leo still wasn't used to this whole "dating" thing. This was his first official date with Calypso since getting off of Ogygia. Fancy restaurants weren't really his scene. The music was too quiet, the other patrons were too loud, and it felt like the bowtie Piper picked out for him was choking him. He couldn't read the words on the menu, even more than he usually couldn't read things thanks to his dyslexia, because this was in French. Would it be weird to Iris message Piper and have her read the menu to him? She was, after all, an expert on both dating and French. She'd picked out his outfit, made the reservations, and even told him what to say, and Leo still felt lost. Why did he have to be the son of the most socially awkward god in existence? Why couldn't his dad have been the god of chick magnets or something?

Leo hoped he wouldn't get burnt into a pile of ash for thinking that.

Leo's hands felt about ten degrees warmer than the rest of his body, which was never a good sign. He had them clasped together between his knees, hidden under the table. _Hey Dad,_ he thought, _I know I was kind of complaining about you a minute ago, but if you could help me not set this place on fire that would be pretty great. I promise to sacrifice a whole half of my breakfast tomorrow._ Then he figured he ought to pray to the love goddess too, so he added, _Aphrodite, if you wouldn't mind helping me out too that'd be super cool of you._

Calypso still wasn't here yet. Leo was starting to worry she'd decided not to come. What if she decided she was done with him? Calypso was a millennia-old immortal, not to mention the most beautiful girl he'd ever met, and he was just… Leo. A dumb demigod with dumb fire powers who had gotten this crazy idea into his head that someone as perfect as her could fall in love with him.

Leo almost didn't notice the tablecloth going up in flames. The edge near his hands had caught on fire, and flames were leaping higher and higher by the second. Leo's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Without thinking, he threw the roses at the center of the table to the floor and dropped the vase of water on the fire. It doused the flames until the only evidence left was the singed tablecloth and a few sparks. The vase tumbled to the floor and shattered. The couple at the table next to him looked up in alarm.

"Knocked over the flowers. Oops," Leo said, with a nervous laugh and a shrug that definitely wasn't casual enough. Never mind the fact that the flowers and the broken vase had fallen on opposite sides of the table.

The guy narrowed his eyes, then apparently decided it wasn't worth saying anything. The girl wouldn't stop giving him wary looks out of the corner of her eye.

_Way to go_, Leo thought, _you've just ruined somebody's night_. But Leo couldn't stay focused on that too long. He couldn't stop thinking about Calypso, about her gorgeous hair, her perfect smile…

And about how she was probably done with him.

Leo decided to get away from the table before he set something else ablaze. The Mist might protect mortals from seeing his powers, but in the very least they'd think he was an arsonist who kept a lighter up his sleeve. He left his coat hanging on his chair, then escaped to the bathroom. As he walked past, he hoped no one noticed the panicked look on his face or the inevitable sweat stains under his arms. He locked himself in a stall, put down the toilet lid, and sat down.

_You've got this, man_, Leo thought, bracing his hands against the walls of the stall and closing his eyes_. It's all gonna turn out fine in the end._ But Leo had learned a long time ago that things didn't turn out fine for him all that often. Why should tonight be any different? Leo let one hand fall to his side and the other slide down the wall until it hit the toilet paper dispenser. He let out a sigh, just as the roll of paper went up in flames. Leo patted it out with his sleeve and swore louder than he should have.

"Haha, taking quite the crap over there, huh?" said the guy in the next stall over.

_If only you knew_, Leo thought. He pushed out of the stall, flushing the toilet for good measure. Some guy tried to walk in after him.

"I don't think you want to go in there, amigo," Leo said, waving his hand in front of his nose to indicate he'd just taken a huge, stinking crap. It was the most cringe-worthy thing he'd done all week, which was really saying something. To Leo's relief, the guy just shrugged and went into the next stall. Leo wanted to be long gone by the time someone discovered the charred roll of toilet paper he'd left behind.

Leo quickly washed his hands, then made his way back to his table. The background music had changed to a piano rendition of "Burning Love", which was not helping his case. Calypso was still nowhere to be found. Leo didn't know what was wrong with him. Well, there was the fact that he was painfully awkward and way, way, way out of his girlfriend's league, but that was normal. What wasn't normal was all the trouble he was having with his powers. He was usually so good about keeping the flames under control. But every time he thought about Calypso's habit of singing under her breath, or the way she laughed at his jokes even when they weren't that great, his heart fluttered and he got kind of lightheaded…

His hands were starting to get dangerously warm again, so Leo decided to think about anything other than Calypso. He should think of cold things, like snowstorms or icicles or a cool glass of water. Anything but Calypso, and her eyes as deep as oceans and skin as warm as sunshine.

Dammit. Now his subconscious was just doing this on purpose. Leo's phone buzzed, which he hoped would be an adequate distraction. It turned out to be a text from Calypso, which was the polar opposite of a distraction.

sorry i'm late. caught in traffic. i'll be there in a minute. xoxo :) –callie

Leo was melting. Not only was he relieved that she hadn't decided to ditch him, but every time Callie texted him he felt like he was flying. Unfortunately, Leo's phone was also melting. The screen was turning brownish-black and smoking where his hand was wrapped around it, so he stashed it in his pocket before anyone saw. Between the cost of dinner and the cost of replacing his phone, tonight was running Leo's bank account into the ground, but he was so happy to finally take Calypso on a real date, he didn't even care. Now if only he could stop being so dang nervous.

Calypso was true to her word, arriving at the restaurant after a few minutes. She was wearing her hair down, which she almost never did, and she wore a snug red dress that was driving Leo insane. This time instead of just his hands heating up, it was his face too, though he was pretty sure that was because he was blushing.

"Sorry about my timing. I swear, things moved faster when people traveled by horse," Calypso said, sitting down across the table and reaching for Leo's hand. He jolted it back and tucked it under his leg. Calypso's smile wavered. "What? Are you mad at me?" she said, reaching for Leo's other hand, which was grasping his glass of water so tight he thought the glass might break.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Leo said, inching his hand back towards his end of the table. Calypso grabbed his wrist. Leo yanked it back.

"Leo, what is your problem?" Calypso said, scrunching up her lips in that cute way she did when she was pissed at him.

"I'm afraid you'll get burned," Leo said, whispering so none of the mortals would hear him. They'd probably think it was just some sort of metaphor for getting dumped or whatever, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Leo, you're not going to burn me, not even by accident," Calypso said, grabbing his hand before he could protest.

"But this is, like, our first official date, and sometimes when I get nervous…" Leo said.

"And you want to know how I know?" Calypso continued, tracing circles on his palm and ignoring him with a smile, "Because you love me."

She wasn't wrong. Maybe Leo didn't have to be so nervous after all.


End file.
